Abdullah Bin Omar
| place_of_birth = Massoulta, Tunisia | date_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest= | arresting_authority= | date_of_release = | place_of_release= | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 721 | group = | alias = | charge = convicted in absentia in Tunisia – didn't know about the Tunisian conviction when returned to Tunisia. | penalty = | status = | csrt_summary = | csrt_transcript= | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Abdullah Bin Omar is a citizen of Tunisia formerly held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 721. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts report he was born on June 28, 1958, in Massoulta, Tunisia. He was sentence to 12-year prison term in Tunisia for some involvement with "Front Islamique de Tunisie" in the 1990s but was freed from prison in Tunisia early 2011 “as part of a promise by the interim government to free all political prisoners.” LeMonde article about bin Omar's conviction in Tunisia http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2011/02/04/guantanamo-a-tale-of-two-tunisians/ Combatant Status Review Tribunal Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant. Summary of Evidence memo A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Bin Omar's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 3 November 2004. The memo listed the following allegations against him: First annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Bin Omar's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 12 August 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Second annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abdullah Bin Omar's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 25 April 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Transcript and missing documents The decision documents from his second Review Board was heavily redacted. One unredacted paragraph, entitled: "Written and/or Oral Testimony from the EC", stated: No transcript was published from the unclassified session of his hearing. Neither was his written response to the factors published. The Department of Defense has not offered an explanation as to why the documents were withheld. Board recommendations In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official. The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 10 October 2006. Guantanamo records There is no record that Bin Omar chose to participate in either his Combatant Status Review Tribunal or his Administrative Review Board. Bin Omar had at least two habeas corpus petitions submitted on his behalf. The Department of Defense published documents from 179 Guantanamo captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Department did not publish documents from any of Bin Omar's habeas cases. Release On March 9, 2007 Christopher Chang, of the human rights group Reprieve announced that the US Government had agreed to release Bin Omar. On June 19, 2007 six men were released from Guantanamo. According to the Miami Herald, the Center for Constitutional Rights identified one of the men as Abdullah Bin Omar. They said he was 51 years old, not 48 as the DoD claimed. Tunisian detention Clive Stafford Smith has reported that Abdullah Bin Omar has been tortured since he returned to Tunisia. Stafford Smith reported that Tunisian interrogators have threatened to rape Abdullah Bin Omar's wife and daughter. Stafford Smith wrote that he was in Guantanamo, waiting to meet with Abdullah Bin Omar, when he received an email, informing him that, since his arrival at Guantanamo, he had been repatriated to Tunisia. Jennifer Daskal, writing in the Washington Post, reported that after several days of abusive interrogation and sleep deprivation, he was forced to sign some kind of document, even though his vision had deteriotaed to the extent he could not read it, and had no idea what it said. Abdullah al-Hajji Ben Amor was convicted on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 of belonging to terrorist organization. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Human Rights Watch reports that in 1995 he was convicted in absentia on the same charge. Human Rights Watch says that "...neither the Tunisians nor Americans ever informed him of the 1995 conviction before sending him home." He was freed from prison in Tunisia early 2011 “as part of a promise by the interim government to free all political prisoners.”http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2011/02/04/guantanamo-a-tale-of-two-tunisians/ References External links * “We would rather be back in Guantánamo,” say Tunisians Abdullah bin Omar and Lofti Lagha, returned in June Andy Worthington * Out of Guantánamo, and into the fire: conviction of ex-detainee in Tunisia casts doubts on US motives Andy Worthington Category:Living people Category:1958 births Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Tunisian people Category:Tunisian expatriates in Pakistan